Flat panel electronic display devices such as liquid crystal displays (LCD) and plasma displays offer many advantages over conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) and rear projection displays, such as improved picture resolution, elimination of screen flicker, and greatly decreased physical dimensions. Consequently, flat panel displays are becoming commonplace in business and residential settings.
Often, it is desirable to mount a flat panel display from a fixed structure such as a wall, ceiling, column or other structural feature. Consequently, specialized mounts have been developed to enable displays to be mounted from fixed structures, while also enabling selective positioning of the display for visibility or convenience.
Some prior manually adjustably positionable mounts include various arrangements of brackets and arms to enable tilting of the display screen. Examples of such tilt mounts are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,363 to Boele, and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0033436A1 to Peng et al. A drawback of such simple tilt devices wherein the tilt axis passes through the mount behind the display is that the display tends to tip forward or backward about the tilt axis unless it is held in the desired position with frictional or other mechanical locking devices. In that large flat panel display devices, particularly plasma displays, can be quite heavy and unwieldy, it can be difficult for an individual to simultaneously lift the display in the desired position and manipulate the mechanical locking device to fix the display in position.
In other prior mounts, this drawback is overcome by locating the tilt axis of the display within the display itself preferably proximate the display center of gravity. Such mounting devices are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,905,101 to Dittmer and U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,961 to Dittmer et al., each hereby fully incorporated herein by reference.
For example, the flat screen mounting system of the '101 Patent includes two joined mounting elements, one of which is a wall mounting support fastened to a stable, fixed mounting surface, such as a wall, while the flat screen is mounted to the other mounting element which is a mounting panel. One of the two joined mounting elements has a guide or slide, along which the mounted screen moves or revolves in an arc with regard to a horizontal screen rotation axis. The screen rotation axis is placed near the screen's center of gravity. The mounting panel of the screen is joined and fastened to the wall mounting support with a dual arm system made up of front and rear arms, joined with hinges forming a parallelogram capable of parallel movement. In addition, the support is provided with a vertical axle formed from a bolt embedded in the end parts of the arms. Displacement of the display screen from the vertical plane is accomplished through manual tilting or lifting which results in shifting of pilot bars along bow-shaped guides. The rotation of the display screen around the vertical axle is accomplished via manual rotating which results in rotating the support around the pilot bar. All movements of the head of the '101 Patent require application of manual operation.
Another adjustment device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,775 to Pfister et al. The adjustment device of the '775 Patent is designed for titling the display screen and, is cable of shifting the screen along the horizontal axis of rotation which is located in the center of gravity of the screen. The device comprises a support and mount, which are mutually connected through sliding, leaving the chance of being shifted along the arch track. The screen titling axle is located in the center of a circle, a section of which is the arch track. The support and the mount are in the form of a clamping ring. The support includes the arch sliding which matches the bow-shaped holes in the mount. The display screen is shifted manually in all directions.
Due to the wide variations in display configuration it can sometimes be difficult to position the display on these prior mounts so that the tilt axis passes through or proximate the center of gravity so that the display is balanced. If the display is not balanced, it will tend to tip up or down on the mount unless restrained by friction or a locking mechanism, thereby presenting the drawbacks of prior art mounts. Although different mounts can be made for each model display so that the tilt axis is properly positioned for that model, this approach adds manufacturing and production cost and leads to complexity of installation.
International application PCT/US2008/000044, filed Jan. 3, 2008, which is incorporated herein in its entirety, discloses a mount for attaching a variety of makes and models of flat panel electronic displays to a fixed structure that also enables the display to be balanced about its center of gravity so as to be easily manipulated by an individual. All movements are accomplished via manual operation.
There remains a need for an automated tilt head for flat panel displays in which the tilt of the display screen from a vertical plan and the rotation of the display screen is accomplished automatically.